BloodsPilot Client

To play BloodsPilot (i.e. XPilot), a client program is needed. The client
is used to connect to and play on a server.

It is good if you know basic ship control, talking, and exiting the game
before you join a server.

Connecting to a server

After download and install
of the BloodsPilot client, it can be started using the command:

bloodspilot-client-x11

BloodsPilot also includes a bugfixed xpilot-4.5.4 client,
bloodspilot-client-454, and an SDL/OpenGL client,
bloodspilot-client-sdl, which can
be used instead of the X11 client (the SDL/OpenGL client
is not part of the 1.4.0 release). The 4.5.4 style client is
not recommended for new players, as the controls differ
from what is stated below.

When the client has been started, a window will open. If you want to play on a
server on the Internet, click the Internet button using the mouse. A list
of servers running will be shown. The server list is sorted by number of players
(some of which may be pausing). You can also Ping Servers to see which of the
servers have low lag. Controlling the ship is easier with low lag.

To join a server, click with the mouse on the button containing the server name.

Playing

Once connected to a server, you will see the world map, a radar, a score list,
some messages, and possibly some other players playing. In case the game is
round based, you may have to wait until the next round to start (this may
take a few minutes). A 'W' will be shown next to your name while you're waiting.

Once you see an unmoving white triangle ship in the middle of the window,
you can start playing. Whatever the map, you need to control (fly) your ship and
on almost all maps the main idea is to fight enemy ships or play in a team against
enemy team(s). Your own and enemy ships are normally painted in white, yellow or
red, while friendly ships (e.g. teammates) are painted in blue.

The following tables list the most common actions. The shown methods assume
the default client settings and either the X11 or SDL/OpenGL client (i.e.
not the 4.5.4-like one).

Basic ship control

Action

Method

Comment

Enable mouse control of ship

Click left mouse button

Click near the center of the game window (e.g. not on top of messages).

Exit mouse control

Press Esc

-

Turn ship

Move mouse left or right

Another inferior method is to use Left and Right keyboard buttons.

Thrust

Press right mouse button

If turning with Left and Right, thrust with Up button.

Fire shot

Press left mouse button

If steering with arrow keys, fire with Down.

Talking

Action

Method

Comment

Talk to all

Press t, write message and press Enter to send

Cancel with Esc. Can be used to distract other players if you can't
beat them otherwise. For example you can complain about server bugs or lag.

Team talk

Press y, write message and press Enter to send

Another way to talk to team only is to start the message with the team number,
followed by a colon. E.g. 2: I'll defend!

Exiting the game

Action

Method

Comment

Exit game

Press Esc, followed by F1

You can also quit by pointing at the Quit button in the client window and
clicking it with the left mouse button, or issuing the talk message
\quit.

Handling treasure balls

On some maps, especially on Blood's Music, a lot of the action involves
attempts to steal the enemy treasure ball or recover your own ball.
The treasure balls usually reside in treasure boxes, your own box often
painted in blue and the enemy treasure box in red.

Action

Method

Comment

Connect to a ball

Press f when close to the ball and fly ship until the connector becomes long enough
(and drawn solid)

You can't connect to your own ball when it is in the treasure box.

Drop ball

Press d

Can be used to throw the ball.

Cash enemy ball

Connect to the enemy ball and put or throw it into your own treasure box

This might earn you and your team a lot of points.

Save own ball

Run over (pop) the ball or be the last one to have connected
to it before it hits the enemy box

Steal enemy ball from his treasure box and fly with it to your own box,
cashing the ball

Ballruns should be fast and reliable. Don't miss your box or let the ball
hit a wall at too high speed.

Ball warnings

If you have teammates, it's a good idea to keep them informed about what
is going on. For example if your team's ball has been stolen, you should
make a ball warning.

Action

Method

Comment

Warn team about stolen treasure ball

Press space

The message will be drawn in red. A red circle will appear on your ship.

Warn that locked on player has stolen ball

Press g

See below for how to lock on players.

Inform team that the treasure ball is safe

Press a

Message is green. The red warning circle on the ship will disappear.

Request cover by teammates (useful e.g. when cashing an enemy ball)

Press c

The message will be drawn in blue. A blue circle will appear on your ship.
The c key is also used on item maps to toggle the cluster weapon modifier.
On such map a cover request will not be issued (unless it is also a team map,
which is unlikely).

Inform team that the enemy ball popped

Press v

Message is yellow. Cover circle on ship will disappear. When an enemy ball
pops (breaks) it is returned back from where it was originally stolen.

HUD lock, radar and scorelist related stuff

When locking on a player, that player's name will appear somewhat above
the center of the window. On the radar, that player's radar dot will
start blinking. You can use this for example to track a player.

Action

Method

Comment

Lock on closest player

Press r

-

Lock on next closest player

Press e

-

Lock on next player

Press Page Down or w

-

Lock on previous player

Press Page Up

-

Toggle showing of HUD radar walls

Press s

The radar walls may clutter the screen when fighting nearby ships.

Toggle score list

Press Tab

Toggle if the score list obscures the view.

Other ship controls

Action

Method

Comment

Drop shield

Fire shot

The shield will be dropped automatically when you fire a shot. Note
that on some maps (e.g. Blood's Music) the shield will drop automatically
a few seconds after your ship has appeared, so you had better get into
safety before that.

Refuel

Press f when close to a fuel box

It's very unusual to run out of fuel on Blood's Music.

Toggle self destruct of ship

Press End

A meter will appear, and once the time runs out, the ship will explode.

Other game actions

Below are some other actions that can be taken in the game.

Action

Method

Comment

Change home base

Press Home or h when on top of a base

You can't change to an enemy base.

Swap team

Press F5

Another way is to issue the talk message /team number,
e.g. /team 2 to swap to team 2.

Pausing and spectating

When you need a break, you can pause. When pausing or waiting for the
next round, you can spectate on other players (if the server allows it).

Action

Method

Comment

Pause

Press Pause when on your own base (start platform)

When paused, you can spectate other players. A 'P' will be drawn
next to your name.

Unpause

Press Pause

On most servers, you have to pause at least 10 seconds before you can
unpause.

View next/previous player

Press Page Down/Up

Can be used to change view when spectating.

Recording games for later viewing

Action

Method

Comment

Toggle recording

Press F12

A red indicator will flash in the upper right corner when recording.
Read the replay page to learn more.

Learn more (especially about playing on the classic Blood's Music map) in the
newbie and other player guides.

Good luck: you're going to need it, because some players are quite skilled.

Configuring the client

The client has many options. For example to start the game with the name
"Newbie" you can start the client like so:

bloodspilot-client-x11 -name Newbie

Configure during game

Options can also be changed when already connected to a server. The
easiest way is to select menu item MENU->GENERAL CONFIG.
Colors are configured using MENU->COLOR CONFIG. Once you've
made changes, you can save them using the button Save Configuration
at the bottom of the config area. A configuration file .xpilotrc
will appear in your home directory.

Editing the configuration file

You can also change option values by editing $HOME/.xpilotrc
with a text editor. The changes will take affect the next time you
start the client. You can get some information about the options by
running:

bloodspilot-client-x11 -help

Configure during game using client commands

Another way to query and change option values is the client
\get and \set commands. For example
to set the value of the (not existing) exampleOption
option to 1, issue the talk message \set exampleOption 1.
The client will not send these messages to other players. You
can learn more about client and server commands using the
commands \help for client commands and /help
for server commands.